AzureFeeds

As organizations increasingly adopt hybrid and cloud-first strategies to accelerate growth, managing costs is a top priority. Azure Hybrid Benefit provides discounts on Windows and SQL server licenses and subscriptions helping organizations reduce expenses during their migration to Azure. But did you know that Azure Hybrid Benefit also extends to Linux? 

In this blog, we’ll explore how Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux enables enterprises to modernize their infrastructure, reduce cloud costs, and maintain seamless hybrid operations—all with the flexibility of easily converting their existing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) subscriptions. We’ll also dig into the differences in entitlements between organizations using Linux, Windows Server, and SQL licenses. Whether you’re migrating workloads or running a hybrid cloud environment, understanding this Azure offer can help you make the most of your subscription investments.

Leverage your existing licenses while migrating to Azure 

Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux allows organizations to leverage their existing RHEL or SLES licenses to migrate to in Azure, with a cost savings of up to 76% when combined with three-year Azure Reserved Instances. This offering provides significant advantages for businesses looking to migrate their Linux workloads to Azure or optimize their current Azure deployments: 

• Seamless conversion: Existing pay-as-you-go Linux VMs can be converted to bring-your-own-subscription billing without downtime or redeployment 

• Cost reduction: Organizations only pay for VM compute costs, eliminating software licensing fees for eligible Linux VMs 

• Automatic maintenance: Microsoft handles image maintenance, updates, and patches for converted RHEL and SLES images 

• Unified management: It integrates with Azure CLI and provides the same user interface as other Azure VMs 

• Simplified support: Organizations can receive co-located technical support from Azure, Red Hat, and SUSE with a single support ticket 

To use Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux, customers must have eligible RedHat or SUSE subscriptions. For RHEL, customers need to enable their RedHat products for Cloud Access on Azure through RedHat Subscription Management before applying the benefit. 

Minimizing downtime and licensing costs with Azure Hybrid Benefit 

To illustrate the value of leveraging Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux, let’s imagine a common use case with a hypothetical business.  

Contoso, a growing SaaS provider, initially deployed its application on Azure virtual machines (VMs) using a pay-as-you-go model. As demand for its platform increased, Contoso scaled its infrastructure, running a significant number of Linux-based VMs on Azure. With this growth, the company recognized an opportunity to optimize costs by negotiating a better Red Hat subscription directly with the vendor. 

Instead of restarting or migrating their workloads—an approach that could cause downtime and disrupt their customers’ experience—Contoso leveraged Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux VMs. This allowed them to seamlessly apply their existing Red Hat subscription to their Azure VMs without downtime, reducing licensing costs while maintaining operational stability.  

By using Azure Hybrid Benefit, Contoso successfully balanced cost savings and scalability while continuing to grow on Azure and provide continuous service to their customers.

How does a Linux license differ from Windows or SQL? 

Entitlements for customers using Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux are structured differently from those for Windows Server or SQL Server, primarily due to differences in licensing models, workload types, migration strategies, and support requirement.

In conclusion, Azure Hybrid Benefit is a valuable offer for organizations looking to optimize their cloud strategy and manage costs effectively. By extending this benefit to Linux, Microsoft has opened new avenues for organization to modernize their infrastructure, reduce cloud expenses, and maintain seamless hybrid operations. With the ability to leverage existing RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) subscriptions, organizations can enjoy significant cost savings, seamless conversion of pay-as-you-go Linux VMs, automatic maintenance, unified management, and simplified support.

Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux not only provides flexibility and efficiency but also empowers organizations to make the most of their subscription investments while accelerating their growth in a hybrid and cloud-first world. Whether you’re migrating workloads or running a hybrid cloud environment, understanding and utilizing this benefit can help you achieve your strategic goals with confidence. To learn more go to: Explore Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux VMs – Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn